Do you feel Christians are discriminated against? Do you have any personal experience of this?
Christians are not discriminated against overtly on a large scale but there have been and will remain instances of minority discrimination in this country. I have no personal experience of such discrimination but my father and my aunt's husband had.
My father was due to become the National Director of a prestigious management training institute but was succeeded by a junior. There was obviously a lot of politics involved, but it all revolved around religion. How could a Christian be at a senior governmental post! My father subsequently resigned. Something similar happened to my uncle, too. He was employed in the Foreign Service.
I wonder if it is an apt observation that Christians here are second rate citizens.
Sorry Mayank, I won't back your observation. It's my belief that if one behaves and lives like a second rate citizen then he will be treated like one. Christians are given voting rights in national elections and share almost the same constitutional rights as Muslims.
There are Christians occupying senior posts in the corporate, government, and education sectors of this country. True, there have been people who had to face discrimination, but there are many who fought back and rose to a higher status in the society.
Is it true that the worth of a Christian witness in a Pakistani court of law is half of that of a Muslim man?
It is indeed true. According to the Islamic law of Shariat, which is implemented in the Pakistani courts, a non-Muslim's testimony is considered incomplete in many cases. It is only considered valid under the Pakistan Penal Code which entails Criminal Law as well.
In international media, we frequently read reports of violent attacks against Pakistani minorities, especially on Christians. Do you have a relative, or somebody you were acquainted with, who was a Christian and had to suffer violent attacks due to his religion?
I do not know anyone personally but there have been cases where uneducated young Christian boys have been tortured and killed by Muslims for reasons of blasphemy.
Article comments
1 - diana hartman
I am pleased to tell you this article is being featured in the Culture Focus today, November 2nd.
Diana Hartman
Culture Editor
2 - Roger Choate
Yet another insightful article! There's so much we don't really know about Pakistan, so I hope you'll keep at it, Mayank
3 - Mayank Austen Soofi
I have been e-mailed by Mr. Tehman Lall. He has (rightly) observed that I have not included all the questions asked to him for this interview. He feels that there is more to Pakistan than suggested by this published piece.
4 - Stephen
It is a very insightful interview and gives a depth to Pakistan that I had not thought existed. Thanks both to Soofi and Lall.
5 - Roger Choate
Would it be an idea, Mayank, to do a sidebar to your article incorporating some of the additional thoughts that Mr Lall may have?
6 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Roger,
It is a very good idea. Thanks. I'll work on your suggestion. But I miss your take on Sweden. Okay, elections are over but surely there is much more to that northern nation than mere national elections.
7 - Roger Choate
Good, Mayank, I'll look forward to that article.
I do agree that there's more to Sweden than the occasional national election. I'll try to correct my wayward ways and crank something out.
From your own point of view as an Indian, what do you think you would want to know or learn about Sweden?
8 - Verona Pinto
I am from Mangalore, India. I found the article very informative, interesting and objective. According to me, Mr.Lall is quite frank in the interview, regarding the position of minorities in Pakistan.
That's a really nice picture of Mr.Lall and his family.